The invention relates generally to medical devices, and more particularly to medical systems, medicament delivery devices and methods for delivering a vaccine and/or other medicaments into a body of a patient.
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material (the vaccine) to produce immunity to a disease. Many known vaccines are given by hypodermic injection and/or are stored under controlled conditions, and are thus often administered by a medical professional. Known vaccination procedures, therefore, are performed at a physician's office, a clinic and/or some other location where a medical professional can administer the vaccine. Known vaccination procedures can include validating the stability of the vaccine, administering the dose of the vaccine and/or monitoring the patient at the physician's office for a period of time after administering the vaccine to ensure that the patient does not have an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Visitations by a patient to a physician's office, however, are costly, inconvenient and can result in the patient being exposed to an infectious disease. Moreover, the administration of vaccines at a central location (clinic, physician's office or the like) can pose logistical issues during vaccination campaigns, such as, for example, vaccination campaigns during which a large number of individuals are vaccinated during a short period of time (e.g., vaccination during a pandemic).
Additionally, many known vaccines are administered via multiple doses over a period of time. Multiple doses can be used to produce a sufficient initial immune response and/or to boost a response that declines over time. Thus, some known vaccination procedures include multiple visits by the patient to the medical professional after a period of time to receive subsequent doses of the vaccine. For example, a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) is administered in three doses: an initial dose followed up by a second dose two months after the initial dose is administered, and a third dose six months after the initial dose is administered. In certain instances, a patient may forget or decline to return to the medical professional, and therefore may not receive the subsequent doses of the vaccine. In such instances, the effectiveness of the vaccine can be diminished.
Thus, a need exists for methods and apparatus to provide self-administration of vaccines and/or other medicaments. A need further exists for methods and apparatus to ensure correct administration of the vaccine. Additionally, a need exists for method and apparatus that can track and/or enhance patient compliance and/or adherence in self-administering vaccinations.